lifeline ⇾ kai parker

48┃the ghost in the byline

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

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AN ELEGY FOR THE AGES IS often followed by times of war and the tragedy that it bestows. Remembrance is passed down of what some would wish to forget. But sacrifice should never be a set of pages glued together to reach an unblemished ending. The real story should be told with all of its smeared letters and tear-stained margins.

The truth is all Mila is thinking about while she stands there and readies herself to step foot into the threshold of the crypt. She had spent so long chastising Kai for withholding the truth when, given the choice, she never offered up honesty, either. It was better to let things stay buried and move forward. Until, Mila realized she wasn't going anywhere worthwhile.

So, before getting into this, before she puts her life on the line yet again, Mila makes a silent promise. It was similar to the structure of her wedding vows but this didn't just include her love for Kai. The baby growing inside her was her unprecedented future, and as much as she would love to flee and hide in big cities and shield them from the world, it would just be another dishonest gesture. She wanted to do things differently, rise above past grievances, because at the very least that's exactly what their child deserved. They deserved parents who knew better, and Mila intended to do her part.

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THE WARMTH OF A CRACKLING fire did little to ease any of the tension in the room. Lizzie and Josie were reviving an update from Kaleb on Hope's worsening condition and Mila faintly listened on other side of the room, trying to sort out the dismantled situation they all were in.

Her thumb mindlessly twiddled with her charm bracelet. Orange luminance sashays over her concentrated features like the glimpse of light you see before a volcano bubbles over and wreaks havoc. Everything around her pointed to impending doom but there had to be more. There had to be another way. Mila was surrounded by the happenings of loopholes, including herself, so it only seemed fitting that they could come up with one of their own.

"Kai escaped the 2018 prison world through the Malivore Pit. Who's to say the Necromancer won't do that or something similar to escape a new prison world? We need something more concrete, something that will keep him contained," Mila spoke up, reawakening their discussion before Kaleb had interrupted them; he had gone back to help MG with research on a reversal spell.

Lizzie nodded in agreement until her head suddenly halted, her entire body freezing for a moment, and then her neck snapped up. "What about the Malivore Pit itself? What if we shove his ghoul-ass back in and then close it?"

"How are we supposed to close it? Especially when the Necromancer has been controlling it?" Josie reminded, which caused Lizzie to deflate once more in her spot on the couch armrest.

"Well, you'd have to use Hope's blood, right?" Mila guessed, a prominent wrinkle to her brow. Despite actually having been in it, Mila wasn't a Malivore expert, but she knew that its weakness was the supernatural trifecta that was Hope Mikaelson and her tribred bloodline.

"That wouldn't get rid of the Necromancer's influence on it. He could just reopen it," Josie answered. Her hand flung up to demonstrate the ease of the Necromancer undoing their plan.